Things That Talk

2010-09-26T16:28:00.001-05:00

If you ever notice TCP connections to servers ending in 1e100.net, such as gw-in-f19.1e100.net or gx-in-f125.1e100.net for example, be aware that these are Google servers. 1e100 is another way of writing the mathematical phrase 10^100, or googol. They are used for things like Google Talk, etc. Port 5222 is used for the XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol) chat protocol. Port 443 is used for HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol over SSL/TLS) secure communications.

Keywords: https, ip, ports, remote address, remote host name, protocol

2010-03-29T23:34:00.004-05:00

2010-03-29T23:27:00.004-05:00

2010-03-29T23:20:00.004-05:00

2010-03-29T22:43:00.004-05:00

2010-03-29T22:38:00.003-05:00

2010-03-27T22:36:00.000-05:00

Use the wget command line tool to post a status update on your twitter account

wget --http-user=yourusername --http-password=yourpassword --post-data="status=what you want to say" http://twitter.com/statuses/update.xml

You can download wget for windows here:
http://users.ugent.be/~bpuype/wget/
or here:
http://gnuwin32.sourceforge.net/packages/wget.htm

2010-03-22T23:08:00.004-05:00

2010-03-19T01:00:00.000-05:00

fulfillment, sin, holiness, faith, grace, law, bless, redeem, miracle, promise, truth, salvation, kingdom

When using this image I created on your own web site please provide a link to the Things That Talk blog. Thanks to NASA for the original image.

2010-03-19T00:31:00.000-05:00

make an impact

I created this image. Please provide a link to the Things That Talk blog when using this image on your own web site. Thanks to NASA for the original image.

2010-03-18T23:09:00.001-05:00

Is your whole world falling apart?

I created this image. Please provide a link to the Things That Talk blog when using this image on your own web site. Thanks to NASA for the original image.

2010-03-18T12:45:00.000-05:00

Soldiers operating in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) entered a hospital supported by Doctors Without Borders and forcibly kidnapped four injured patients. After the incident the medical team evacuated the area fearing for their own safety.

I created the "Congo" image, so please give proper credit and a link to the Things That Talk blog when using the image on your own web site.

2010-03-17T23:07:00.002-05:00

A disgruntled former employee of an auto dealership in Austin, Texas was able to remotely deactivate ignitions and set off horns on over 100 vehicles of previous customers. The dealership installs devices that can prevent cars from starting. They use the device to repossess a car when the buyer fails to make payments. They activate the horn when a repo agent needs help locating the vehicle. He used the password of a former colleague to access the system over the Internet from his home computer. Last month dealership employees noticed strange things in the system including an order for $130,000 in GPS parts and equipment. He probably thought it was a harmless prank. Police arrested the 20 year old suspect after tracing the sabotage to his computer, charging him with felony breach of computer security.

I created the "password security" image for use on your web site according to the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license. Please give proper credit to Things That Talk when using any image from this blog.

2010-03-17T22:11:00.000-05:00

Pirates attempted to attack a ship off the coast of Somalia. But they were met with warning shots from the Dutch warship. When they realized what they were up against the pirates turned and fled. Authorities caught the pirates but after destroying their boats and taking their weapons they released the pirates.

2010-03-17T22:02:00.000-05:00

This week $75 million in pharmaceuticals was stolen from an Eli Lilly & Co. warehouse in Connecticut. The operation involved cutting a hole in the roof, belaying into the building, and incapacitating the alarm. The payload of drugs could have filled a big mac truck, the largest theft of its type.

2010-03-17T12:20:00.000-05:00

In Maseru, the capital city of Lesotho, approximately 40,000 people are employed by the garment industry.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/novosad/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

The image of the word "Lesotho" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Since I created the image please let me know if you use it because I like to know where it is used.

2010-03-17T11:45:00.000-05:00

Check out the median household income of the ten poorest counties in America.

That is a lot in South Dakota. Maybe they are in or near Indian Reservations.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. I created these images so please give credit when used.

2010-03-17T00:19:00.001-05:00

The UN (United Nations) plans to begin withdrawing peacekeeping troops from the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) as soon as June, 2010.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. I created the United Nations title image. The photo is from http://paulshaffner.blogspot.com/.

2010-03-16T23:30:00.000-05:00

A minor earthquake struck Los Angeles, California. Not much damage reported.

I created this image licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Please give credit. I appreciate that you let me know when you use it.

2010-03-16T22:24:00.000-05:00

In Swaziland one in three people live with the HIV infection. That is the highest rate of any country in the world.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

I created the image. So if you like it or find a way to use it, let me know.

2010-03-16T19:28:00.002-05:00

uganda GV8_lo
Originally uploaded by CIAT - International Center for Tropical Agricultu

The LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) in Uganda has killed many innocent civilians in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Please give credit to this blog.

2010-03-16T17:52:00.001-05:00

Some of the politicians in Somalia are taking campaign contributions from the Somalian pirates.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Please let me know if you like this image I created. Feel free to use it according to the license. And if you do use the image let me know.

2010-03-16T10:14:00.005-05:00

Rural areas are large and isolated areas of an open country, often with low population density.

An urban area is characterized by higher population density such as cities and towns.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.

Let me know if you like this image or if you use it.

2010-03-11T21:17:00.002-05:00

These are the people important to Jesus... a man with an unclean spirit, someone with a fever, the sick, those possessed with demons, a leper, a paralytic, sinners, a man with a withered hand, those with diseases, someone with hemorrhages, a deaf man with a speech impediment, a blind man, a mute.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
Please feel free to use the image I created according to its CC license.

2010-03-11T20:43:00.002-05:00

2008

Historic Context of the New Testament

It was easier for Paul to travel from Jerusalem to Rome than it was to travel from the East coast to the West coast of America 150 years ago. I have visited the Parthenon but did not know that Paul stood there when speaking to the Athenians. What aspect of civic life would you want to travel back in time to observe?

The head of the household was a major figure influencing choice of religion for the other people in the household. Choice of religion was not as much of an individual decision as it is today. Households routinely employed staff and slaves. It was a place of business. And some houses served as places of worship for the early church since Christian churches had not yet been built. Who are the influential figures today that can help win people to Christ?

Alexander the Great's military accomplishments brought together a large body of people under a central umbrella of government and commerce. The far reaching Hellenization served as a cultural bridge and was instrumental in the spread of the gospel. The unification of Greek language across the Roman Empire provided a common communication channel for news to spread. There was a spiritual openness in the culture that provided Christians with an audience of sympathetic listeners. Today the Internet has established a global communication network. How has the Internet been used to spread the gospel?

Every great story is based on conflict. The story of the Jews describes them as exiles in foreign lands and even refugees in their own land. They are attacked on all sides. Jesus was a Jew and he was executed. In later history the Jews of course were being exterminated by Hitler. But faith with a strong foundation seems to be strengthened by persecution. And the Romans, in killing Jesus, only caused their own decline. Jesus said, “Those who love their life lose it, and those who hate their life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” I am currently taking a microeconomics class. The economics textbook describes the dilemma an individual or business faces when choosing current goods versus future goods. It illustrates the point that by foregoing some current goods that one can use such resources to profit further in the future. There is a similar principal when investing money. And farmers know that a seed must go into the ground to die before it can be raised as a much larger living plant. What have you given up as a student or as a parent in order to enrich life in the future?

These images are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Please credit this blog if you use an image. Let me know if you like them.

2010-03-11T20:33:00.003-05:00

December 2008

The job report shows that in November over 500,000 jobs were lost. That figure is the largest monthly drop since 1974. Oil dropped to below $41 per barrel, its lowest point in four years. Investors think that the drop in the price of oil will stimulate the job market and the spending on consumer goods. The three largest automakers are seeking a government bailout of $34 billion.

The Bank of England cut interest rates by one percent. The goal is to boost the economy and to prevent deflation. The European Central Bank cut interest rates by 0.75 percent. Sterling was at a record low against the euro. Against the dollar the sterling was at a 6 3/4 year low.

Yields for bonds are at their lowest point in over fifty years. This week investors were wary of buying the government debt. Investors expect the Treasury to issue more debt to cover the costs of economic revival. This would hurt the prices of bonds. Despite the negatives, many investors still see bonds as the only safe place to put their money during the current turbulence in the market.

2010-03-11T20:33:00.001-05:00

November 2008

Shares of Citigroup dropped fourteen percent. JPMorgan lost nine percent. Obama chose Geithner, President of New York Federal Reserve, as Treasury Secretary. This prompted a final-hour surge in stocks on Friday.

Insurance companies hurt the FTSE index. Shares of Aviva and Prudential dropped more than sixteen percent. The FTSE dropped 2.4 percent due in part to uneasiness over the future of Citigroup.

The two year bonds fell to a record low. These lows came after job reports. Unemployment claims reached a sixteen-year high.

2010-03-11T20:32:00.002-05:00

November 2008

Oil dropped below $60 a barrel. Sun Microsystems plans to cut approximately six thousand jobs. The job cut will affect nearly eighteen percent of the total staff. Eight years ago Sun's stock was over $250; now the value is below $5, having lost approximately 75 percent this year. In the semiconductor industry, Applied Materials plans to cut 1,800 jobs. Intel cut $1 billion off of its sales goal for the fourth quarter. Prices for consumer goods dropped 0.8 percent which is the largest monthly drop since 1949.

French oil company Technip stock rose over eleven percent on Friday. The value of sterling dropped to a twelve-year low. On Monday mining companies such as Xstrata gained more than ten percent.

CNBC estimates that the cost to the government of the financial crisis has been $3.8 trillion. CNBC points out that, after adjusted for inflation, that amount is more than the cost of World War II. The drop in retail sales revived investor interest in bonds. For the first time in its history, Citigroup stock dropped below $10. Treasuries saw an increase on Wednesday as Wall Street had a poor opening.

2010-03-11T20:32:00.001-05:00

November 2008

Profit at Berkshire Hathaway fell nearly eighty percent during the quarter. Profits at Geico fell nearly thirty percent. American Express is down approximately fifty percent for the year. Coca-Cola is down twenty-five percent. Profits for the carpet manufacturer Shaw are down approximately sixty percent due to a decline in sales to residential customers.

The Bank of England cut its interest rate 1.5 percent. Now at just three percent, the interest rate is at its lowest point in over fifty years. It is the largest cut since 1981. This quarter the British economy declined for the first time in sixteen years. Shares of Adidas fell nearly ten percent. Shell dropped over seven percent as did oil. Mining company BHP Billiton declined fifteen percent. The government of German announced a stimulus package of $29 billion.

Unemployment is at its highest point in over fourteen years. In October U.S. employers cut jobs by 240,000. However, the job losses were not as dire as some had predicted. Goldman Sachs, for example, expected job losses to number 300,000. When seeing that numbers were not as bad as expected, investors sold their holdings of debt.

2010-03-11T20:31:00.003-05:00

October 2008

Data on U.S. consumers indicates that confidence had a record decline for the month of October. In September consumers cut spending for the first time in two years. The price of copper has declined nearly fifty-five percent since July. Copper's decline in October, over thirty percent, was the largest in decades. Codelco, the world's largest producer of copper, suffered from a subcontractor strike

Despite October being the worst monthly decline since the market crash of 1987, the FTSE had its strongest week ever. It is down nearly eleven percent for October. This week's recovery was thanks to several interest rate cuts. Oil company BP shares were up 2.6 percent.

The Federal Reserve changed the target rate for inter-bank lending to one percent. The U.S. dollar had the largest single day drop since 1985. A report about orders for durable goods showed that the economy may be stronger than expected. Oil increased to nearly $68 a barrel.

2010-03-11T20:31:00.001-05:00

October 2008

This week the Dow dropped 6.5 percent. For the first time in seven years Toyota experienced a drop in sales. Chrysler announced that it will layoff twenty-five percent of its workforce. General Motors may merge with Chysler. GM's stock dropped approximately 16 percent. Financial stocks are down approximately twelve percent for the week. Investigators discovered that executives of AIG were using taxpayer money to pay for retreats costing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

On Friday the FTSE 100 fell to its lowest point in over five years. This month was the first in sixteen years for the European GDP to be down. One prominent analyst says that up to thirty percent of hedge funds worldwide may die out.

Insurance companies have taken losses in holdings of bonds due to the fall of financial services companies such as Lehman Brothers. Several state and local governments are requesting rescue funds to purchase state and municipal bonds.

2010-03-11T20:30:00.003-05:00

October 2008

This month the DOW index has dropped twenty-five percent. It dropped below 10,000 for the first time since 2004. As investors pursue cash the dollar has risen to its highest value in over a year. Crude oil prices dropped below eighty dollars per barrel to its lowest point in over a year. Last month more jobs were cut than any month in five years. Major businesses have been unable to borrow from banks that are hoarding cash.

There is a belief among investors that a global recession may be in the cards. This week was the worst for the FTSE since the crash in 1987. On Friday there was only a single company that gained and even that was up only one cent. For the whole week the index is down twenty-four percent.

Investors are even dumping bonds in favor of cash. Bonds are normally a safe option for investors when they want to escape the volatility of stocks. But with the recent market scares many people are choosing cash instead of even low-risk bonds. Seasoned veterans are not accustomed to seeing such behavior. But bonds have been one of the only investments to see some gains recently. This happened after months of people buying them for safety.

2010-03-11T20:30:00.001-05:00

October 2008

Jobs have fallen for the past nine months. This is the worst employment performance in over five years. Nearly 60,000 more jobs were cut than experts expected. There are signs that the economy is in a period of recession. The bailout plan is meant to improve the situation by enabling the Treasury to buy up bad assets. Experts are hopeful that this will improve the areas of lending and credit. The value of the U.S. dollar dropped in relation to the euro, this after the bailout bill passed. One action that helped the market on Friday was the news that Wells Fargo plans to buy up Wachovia. Wachovia deemed the terms of the Wells Fargo deal better than those offered by Citigroup, who had also planned to buy Wachovia.

On Friday the European index was up three percent. This increase was due to the hopes that the bailout plan would be approved by the U.S. House of Representatives. Also helping was the news that Wells Fargo bid $16 billion to buy Wachovia, leading to more consolidation of banking companies.

There is a lack of trust among banks for inter-bank lending. Investors this week found bonds to be a more attractive investment because of their security in an unstable market. This was especially true on Monday after the House declined the terms of the economic bailout.

2010-03-11T20:29:00.001-05:00

September 2008

Both Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs have converted their status from investment bank to bank holding companies. As such, they will have the same priviledge as traditional savings and loans banks--customers' accounts will be protected by the FDIC up to $100,000. A couple days after the news, Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffett's company, invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs. And it may invest a further $5 billion in the company over the next several years. Morgan Stanley sold off 20 percent of its company for $8 billion to Japanese bank Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc.

Banks have lost billion dollar bets on mortgages ruining their lending businesses. In an attempt to repair the problem the government has worked out a deal to use taxpayer money, $700 billion, to shore up financial companies. The plan still awaits approval from Congress which should come in the following week.

Washington Mutual closed its doors in the largest closure of a bank in the history of the United States. Most of the company was sold to JPMorgan. What ultimately killed WaMu was bank customers withdrawing $16.7 billion in only ten days.

General Electric announced that its earnings may be as much as 15 percent lower than expectations. 45 percent of earnings for GE come actually from GE Capital, its financial unit.

On Monday oil prices jumped over $16 a barrel marking the largest single jump ever for oil.

An auction of 2-year notes set a record of $34 billion.

2010-03-11T20:28:00.001-05:00

September 2008

AIG will be replaced in the DOW index by Kraft.

The FTSE 100 index had the largest one-day rise in twenty years, up 8.8 percent. This is after U.S, U.K., and Irish regulators have temporarily banned short-selling of financial stocks.

For the first time in fourteen years a U.S. money-market fund dropped below one dollar a share. The fund is applying to the SEC for a regulation that would restrict investors from withdrawing their money. It's assets have dropped nearly $40 billion in a single day. The U.S. Treasury is going to direct $50 billion toward money market mutual funds that drop below one dollar a share.

2010-03-11T20:27:00.001-05:00

September 2008

Sixty five percent of the U.S. economy depends on consumer spending. The chances of a recession are increasing because consumers are feeling the pressure of a weak job market. This could hold true for the duration of the third quarter.

In the bear market too many bank stocks have been sold. U.S. futures of crude oil have dropped sharply. The dollar gained strength as it rose to its highest point in a year. Managers of funds are using their reserves of cash to snatch up shares of bank stocks and currencies. Investors are more willing to take on some risk after the bailout of Fannie and Freddie reduced uneasiness in the credit market.

After the government takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors have regained confidence in the bond market. Investors feel that the bonds are safer now than they were several weeks ago. Monday was a big day for bonds after the government’s announcement. The deal includes $5 trillion in debt.

2010-03-11T20:25:00.003-05:00

September 2008

Fears of the possibility of tropical storms knocking out power along the east coast hurt the market. Investors worry about a recession in the U.S. More people are foreclosing on their houses. The average hourly earnings in the U.S. are slightly up from what analysts expected.

Commodity stocks dropped causing the greatest weekly drop in the FTSE in six years. Copper prices are dropping and causing a fall in stocks of mining companies. There is political unrest in the Ukraine region also affecting area mining companies. The pound is losing strength to the strong U.S. dollar. Banks are charging high prices to lend and are wary of lending right now causing housing values to drop. There is a lot of selling going on with oil stocks. There are fears that the FTSE could reach an index of 5,000.

Unemployment is at its highest rate in five years. The economy is weakening. There is worry of difficulty in the financial industry. Due to a troubled housing market and global credit problems several large banks have failed this year. Investors suspect that the Fed will raise interest rates this year.

2010-03-11T20:23:00.001-05:00

2008

On August 27^th, the largest ever sale of two- and five-year notes occurred. The sale totaled $54 billion and $32 billion of that total was the two-year notes. The sale occurred as the bonds were at their lowest price point in months. The large sale attracted many indirect bidders. One contributing factor is that the cost of oil has dropped twenty percent since last month. And forecasters smell a slow down in economic growth in the U.S.

Dell announced on Friday that companies worldwide are cutting back on spending for technology. The announcement caused the market to fall 1.5%. Last month personal income declined in the sharpest drop since Hurricane Katrina two years ago. Also last month inflation increased to the highest it has been in over fifteen years. And people are still uneasy about the housing market. This is coupled with a rise in food prices.

The London market increases this week as gold prices rise along with news of earnings by mining companies. With the possibility that U.S. company Lehman Brothers may be bought out, financial shares were on the rise. In addition, influential investor and billionaire Warren Buffett recently said that stocks are a better investment now than they were a year ago.

2010-03-11T19:26:00.003-05:00

Remember the scene in the movie Crash involving Brendan Frasier who plays a district attorney. It goes something like this... "Why did those guys have to be black. I'm gonna lose the black vote. I need a photo of me pinning a medal on a black guy. I'm gonna pin a medal on an Iraqi named Saddam."

2010-03-11T19:23:00.002-05:00

Technology is anything that improves society. It includes tools; and it also is information in the form of stories and knowledge passed on through generations. Technology is society's collective contributions. And technology builds upon itself. There is no car without the wheel--the wheel had to come first; yes, modern day inventions are incredible, but let's also keep them in the context that they belong--modern day inventions and inventors lean heavily upon historical innovations.

This image of the word "technology" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Please give proper credit when using the image. Let me know when you use it.

2010-03-11T19:21:00.002-05:00

11 April 2008

Emerging Technology: Atomic Magnetometers

This new technology is really nothing new. It's just something old that is a lot smaller now. Atomic magnetometers are sensors that perform scans similar to an magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine. But MRI machines are clunky and expensive and use large heavy magnets. But this new machine is so small that it could be transported just about anywhere. And it could be combined into arrays of sensors to detect for multiple substance types.

Decreasing the size cuts down considerably on power consumption. But the results of a scan compare with those of the larger machines. The larger machines have a vacuum tube that is approximately the size of a Coke bottle. But the new detectors are much smaller, manufactured using micromachining.

The design uses a vacuum chamber filled with charged particles of cesium. The vacuum tube is fused to a silicon wafer. This combines with a simple infrared laser and photodetector. They will be mass produced inexpensively. Portable devices will be available and will be battery powered.

This technology will probably assist new MRI machines on patients with pacemakers because the magnet can be replaced with a less powerful magnet that is safe. It will probably be used by oil companies to detect underground deposits. The military will probably license the technology for detecting improvised explosive devices on the battlefield. A portable device could be housed inside an ambulance. The possibilities are numerous and exciting, especially because some of them will certainly save lives.

Works Cited

Bourzac, Katherine. “TR10: Atomic Magnetometers.” Technology Review 1 Mar 2008. 11 Apr 2008.

2010-03-11T19:19:00.002-05:00

25 April 2008

Emerging Technology: Cellulolytic Enzymes

With regular gas at over $3.50 a gallon, the alternatives to gas are looking very attractive. This week a coworker was complaining that it costs her and her husband over $800 a month for gas. I think the incentive is finally here for people to consider the alternatives. One such alternative is biofuels. Specifically enzymes that break down cellulose in biomass that leads to biofuel.

There are more advantages than just cost alone. Cellulose is the most abundant organic material on earth. And using it could reduce greenhouse gas emission from vehicles by almost 90 percent.

Other such technologies are more simple. For example, breaking down cornstarch is a singular process involving one enzyme. But the technique for converting cellulose is complex. The complexity is pushed into the cost. Right now it costs 50 cents a gallon. But the goal is around four cents a gallon for cellulosic ethanol to be competitive with similar technologies.

The process for creating these enzymes is uses organisms such as yeast and bacteria. In the presence of sugar and contaminants, these bacteria must be very stable. The name for such organisms is cellulases.

A researcher at Caltech named Frances Arnold is working on creating genes that are programmed to interface with specific proteins. These genes mutate and when placed in an organism they are screened for certain traits.

The research is now using computers to identify the many protein mutations. The computers build catalogs indexing thousands of genes. Then they are tested in mixtures to determine how they react with others. According to the researchers working on this problem, it is one of the most difficult problems being addressed in this field. But it must be solved to determine if biofuels can compete with fossil fuels. The difficulty comes from cellulose being resistant to breaking down by enzymes. But Arnold is receiving assistance from other researchers from the University of California. They plan to combine their work to produce butanol from sugar. Butanol is even more efficient than ethanol. Whether it is butanol, ethanol, or cellulolysic enzymes, the researchers hope to find the next superbug that could lead to a revolution in fuel consumption. Hopefully they find it soon before gas prices reach $5 a gallon.

Works Cited

Goho, Alexandra. “TR10: Cellulolytic Enzymes.” Technology Review 1 Mar 2008. 25 Mar 2008.

2010-03-11T19:17:00.001-05:00

17 April 2008

Emerging Technology: Connectomics

Brains are getting more colorful. Harvard and MIT scientists are coloring areas of the brain to see how the brain works. Using fluorescence to view the proteins through a special microscope they can easily see different areas accented by different colors.

The brains being used are mice brains. There is injected DNA that reacts with enzymes to highlight individual nerve cells. The different reactions have produced as many as a hundred different colors. There is potential for noticing how neurons connect along neural pathways. The view is akin to a wiring diagram of the brain. The researchers compare the brain's connections to the circuitry in a computer processor. The name for this emerging technology is connectomics.

In studying the flow of the colored areas the scientists are better able to understand how the information in the brain flows between different areas and where all the axons lead. By compiling such discoveries the information may shed light on brain disorders. Psychiatric illnesses such as autism could be studied by looking at defective cell connections in the nervous system.

The most challenging part now may be cataloging all the discoveries that are bound to follow. Because the brain is so complex, with trillions of synapses, scientists will have to meticulously document every small area they study. Because the technology is so new, no system has yet been developed to compile what is learned.

Works Cited

Singer, Emily. "TR10: Connectomics." Technology Review 1 Mar 2008. 17 Apr 2008.

The image of the word "DNA" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. I created the image and I appreciate you letting me know when you use the image and that you like it. Give proper credit.

2010-03-11T19:16:00.003-05:00

17 April 2008

Emerging Technology: Genomics & Social Networking

Genomics is a young science that got a big boost a few years ago with an announcement that a human genome was fully mapped. An even newer technology is harnessing genomics with social networking. The company 23andMe is taking a fun approach to allow someone to compare themselves with others, especially friends and family.

First a person must order a thousand dollar kit and submit a DNA sample to the lab for analysis. The results go onto the 23andMe web site where the user can try to make sense of all the information. The web site provides charts to help explain. And there are markers for certain genetic links such as disease inheritance that can be explored. In fact, the system compares one's DNA analysis with over 500,000 variations. These tests produce probabilities that help predict and interpret things about one's genetic makeup.

The fun part is the sort of social research. Interest groups can look at the patterns emerging in these wide sample sets of people's genetic makeup. By selecting a particular group for an outstanding characteristic, such as macular degeneration, then they can look for genetic variations that may lead to such anomalies. The concern is that people may not be able to know what to do with the information they're given. There may be insights to glean, but someone without the training to do so, may not benefit.

This technology is so new that no one is certain how it will be used. Some involved in it believe that groups may be formed on MySpace related to genetic groupings. Online cliques and communities may form based on one's genetic makeup.

Even if this technology is not yet being fully harnessed, there are ideas for future developments. For example, new users are asked if they wish to be contacted for future research projects. So in the future this could lead to some enlightening discoveries that can contribute to scientific knowledge. The social networking may be able to serve as a sort of research lab.

Works Cited

Singer, Emily. "Social Networking Hits the Genome." Technology Review 26 Mar 2008.

17 Apr 2008.

2010-03-11T17:42:00.004-05:00

11 April 2008

Emerging Technology: Stretchable Silicon Integrated Circuit

There is now a way to develop malleable circuits. These new circuits can mold to irregular forms such as the human body, clothing, or the surface of an airplane.

We have come to expect computer chips to be uniformly flat. They have no flexibility and if one were to try to bend it, the chip would probably snap into pieces. But now researchers have discovered and created bendable and stretchable surfaces that work just as well as the old inflexible chips.

In constructing the new circuitry, scientists begin with a formative layer of plastic polymer. Then a layer of circuitry is created. Then those two layers are combined into a layer of rubber. Once complete, the new circuit can be applied to any surface, even a surface that will bend. The circuit will simply deform to whatever surface it is applied to.

This is a brand new discovery from researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It could lead to wearable health monitors. Another use could be to assess structural state of aircraft surfaces or bridge stability. The researchers were collaborating with others from the Institute of High Performance Computing in Singapore and Northwestern University. Their work received funding from the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Science Foundation. This discovery will likely lead to many new innovations in the fields of electronics and computing. It may be several years before anything hits the market; but expect to see a lot more in this area of discovery.

Works Cited

Kloeppel, James. “Foldable and stretchable, silicon circuits conform to many shapes.”

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign 27 Mar 2008. 11 Apr 2008.

The image of the word "innovation" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Since I created the image I enjoy knowing when you use it and that you like it. When using the image give proper credit to me as the copyright holder.

2010-03-11T17:39:00.003-05:00

25 April 2008

Emerging Technology: Offline Web Applications

The browser lives in a sort of locked down environment protecting the rest of the operating system from outside threats.

Web pages are going to begin moving back to the desktop and the hard drive. They will be a hybrid form of software meets web site. HTML and Flash will be combined to form an application that downloads from the web page onto the user's hard disk.

Similar to Java, a layer of software will enable portability across differing computing environments. The beauty of the web after all is that users are free to use any operating system. And a runtime environment such as Java can run on almost any operating system. But this latest effort is not Java, but AIR. AIR stands for Adobe Integrated Runtime. Adobe began the effort in 2002. In June they launched the beta version.

The goal is to combine the best of both worlds of desktop and web. Web lacks the speed of desktop. Desktop has files that can be saved locally with ease and dragged and dropped between applications, too. AIR will make this possible in a web application, even after the Internet Explorer window has been closed. Web pages can be updated all the time with no work from the user. These are the advantages and tradeoffs for the different systems.

The current version of AIR runs on Windows and Mac. Future versions will support Linux and mobile systems. It uses Flash and HTML so that programmers can easily create content. So many web based solutions are already developed using Flash. It should be a minimal effort to translate such efforts into an AIR compatible solution.

AIR was built out of a need to extend the web. Developers have extended it about as far as it can go with the current technologies, namely HTML. A combination of HTML and Flash alone can only do so much before reaching the limitations or walls of the browser. The browser lives in a sort of locked down environment protecting the rest of the operating system from outside threats. But that makes it difficult for developers to harness the power of today's computers. Adobe hopes AIR will be the application for the interactivity of the Web 3.0 movement. Google is not far from the action. Rather than using Adobe's environment, Google is placing bets on its own technology named Gears. The battle could lead to some great changes for the millions of web users on broadband connections. Offline web applications should be able to better use all the untapped bandwidth that users are paying for whether they use the bandwidth or not. This could help to usher in applications that stream high quality video and audio.

Works Cited

Naone, Erica. "TR10: Offline Web Applications." Technology Review 1 Mar 2008. 25 Apr 2008.

The image with the word "threats" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Let me know when you use an image that I created. I enjoy knowing that you like the image.

2009-09-28T17:15:00.002-05:00

Chronic hunger sufferers exceeds 1 billion people.

The LRA (Lord's Resistance Army) is kicked out of Uganda. So they move to Dungu, Congo and the Central African Republic. They kidnap children and force them to kill.

Child pornographers are exploiting children in Lima, Peru and also in jungle cities such as Iquitos, Pucallpa, and Madre de Dios. Families in poverty are renting out their children to the people who then rape these young children and record it to video.

source: THE WEEK October 2, 2009

an excuse to connect with another soul

2009-09-27T21:47:00.001-05:00

Finding a "message in a bottle" is a cool excuse to connect with another person. Good friendships are often based on connections based on unusual circumstances such as this story.

in reference to: A real life "message in a bottle" washes ashore 35 years later - This Just In - Budget Travel (view on Google Sidewiki)

2009-08-16T22:00:00.002-05:00

Promotions:

Arby's half price sidekickers, shakes, and drinks 7pm to close.
Arby's free wednesday deal
Domino's bogo new items on wednesdays
Domino's bogo large pizza tuesday online coupon code 9000

This image of the word "coupon" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Use it and give this blog proper credit. Let me know that you used it.

2009-08-03T20:26:00.004-05:00

Microsoft User-Mode Driver Framework Feature Pack 1.0 / Wudf01000 / Build Number 5716

In case you're wondering what this is, it is a component of Windows Media Player 11.

Microsoft Compression Client Pack 1.0 for Windows XP / MSCompPackV1.

This also appears to be a component of Windows Media Player 11.

_____

MSXML 4.0 SP2 (KB954430) Version: 4.20.9870.0
MSXML 6 Service Pack 2 (KB954459) Version: 6.20.1099.0

These appear to be developer tools, possibly included with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. I was able to uninstall MSXML 4.0 but the uninstall of MSXML 6 failed.

This image of the word "XML" is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Please credit this blog when using the image. Let me know that you like it.